Think Inside The Box
Country Living|March 2018

A real estate addict with 12 renovations under his tool belt resourcefully reworks the existing footprint of a 1700s property (complete with centuries of awkward add-ons) from the ground up. 

Caroline Collins Mckenzie
Think Inside The Box

Nearly all 12 of Bobby Houston’s renovation projects started with a scenic drive along winding country backroads. Says the writer/director-turned-designer: “You’re driving along, minding your own business, and then you come upon an old home with a ‘For Sale’ sign,” he says. “Next thing you know, you’re finding excuses to peek in the windows, hoping it’s in such bad shape that no one else will want it.” That’s exactly how things unfolded when Bobby and partner Eric Shamie fell in love with an old farmhouse in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The 250-year-old home was both showing its age and reeling from bad additions and upgrades. “In the 18th century, people had a pattern for building: little house, big house, then a barn, and so on,” says Bobby. “The little house was built in the 1780s, and then the family got prosperous and added on a bigger house in the 1800s. By the time we got here, there were weird transitions, lots of pink floral wallpaper, and multiple wet bars to contend with,” he says.

This story is from the March 2018 edition of Country Living.

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This story is from the March 2018 edition of Country Living.

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